Carlin targets worlds as curtain falls on British Champs

Jazmin Carlin has set her sights on world domination after she took the final gold medal of the British Swimming Championships in dramatic fashion.

Carlin came into the final day of action at the London Aquatics Centre without the pressure of expectation on her shoulders – the 200m freestyle not an event she favours.

But she couldn't resist a final flurry as she narrowly pipped favourite Siobhan-Marie O'Connor to the wall in 1:56.88 to complete a trio of victories after 400m and 800m freestyle victory earlier in the week.

The 24-year-old now turns her attentions to Russia for the World Championships in Kazan later this year and she says the hard work is set to continue as she goes on the hunt for a podium spot.

“The 200m for me is a bonus event, it’s a fun event and it’s a bit of a sprint for me, so I was really happy with that,” she said

“It was my best time, it’s been a tough week so to finish on a high like that is always good.

“It was great into the race, I was pretty nervous beforehand because I knew it was going to be tough, but obviously it’s really nice to get on the podium with Siobhan-Marie O’Connor because we train together day in, day out – it was nice to be on the podium together.

“This week has definitely helped me a lot, it has given me an indication of where I am in training and also it has given me things to improve on for the next few months.

“Obviously I’d love to be on the podium in Russia, I think for everyone that’s doing all the hours of training that is their ultimate goal – I am not going to lie, that is definitely a goal of mine, and I’ll be training as hard as I can to do the best I can.”

Elsewhere James Guy saw off the challenge of Robbie Renwick in the 200m freestyle to take the title in 1:46.32 and Thomas Laxton was crowned 100m butterfly champion with a time of 52.40.

In the womens 400m individual medley Hannah Miley clocked a world qualification time of 4:32.16 to take the win over Aimee Willmott.

However, the Garioch swimmer is not resting on her laurels and wants to keep the momentum going into this summer's World Championships.

“It was all about getting that qualifying time and that's what I did leading into London but then I wasn't able to replicate it,” said Miley.

“So I'm very aware that I can't celebrate my success now, it's only in the summer when I can match that time or beat it.

“It gives you the boost to know you can do that time but then sometimes it's a worry because it adds pressure onto you.

“I like to go into the 400IM with a clear head and race the race you can and it's so important when you get older to just relax because our brains can overrule our bodies and the psychology is just as important as the physiology.”

And Lizzie Simmonds blew the field away in the 200m backstroke final to take victory in 2:08.38 – Georgia Hohmann finishing second more than three seconds behnd.

“I would have liked to have been a little bit quicker but the job this week was to qualify for Kazan and I’ve done that,” said Simmonds.

“I knew I was capable of that, I thought I was capable of going faster but I guess that bodes well for the summer.

“It was always going to be a bit of a strange race because you’re just literally going for the qualification time but it's great to have done and great to have touched the wall in that time.

“It is a major stepping stone for the Rio Olympics and if I hadn’t made that then there wouldn’t have been much to look forward to before next summer.”